Indian markets came off day’s lows in early afternoon deals

In early afternoon deals, Indian equity benchmarks witnessed some recovery to come off their intraday low points, aided by positive cues from other Asian markets along with buying at Metal and Basic Materials counters. Despite recovery, indices remained in red due to persisting Middle East tensions and uncertainty surrounding the closely contested U.S. presidential election. Besides, there was some anxiety among investors  amid reports that the central board of direct taxes (CBDT) has set monetary limitations for waiver or Reduction of Interest on Tax Payments with riders. Meanwhile, the commerce ministry's investigation arm DGTR has recommended imposition of an anti-dumping duty of up to $339 per tonne on imports of PVC resins from seven countries, including China, the US and Korea, with a view to guard domestic producers.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green, after the private sector in Singapore continued to expand in October, albeit at a slower rate, with a PMI score of 55.5. That's down from 56.6, although it remains above the boom-or-bust line that separates expansion from contraction.
The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 78494.83, down by 287.41 points or 0.36% after trading in a range of 78296.70 and 78906.41. There were 10 stocks advancing against 20 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index fell by 0.76%, while Small cap index was down by 0.15%.

The only gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 1.20% and Basic Materials up by 0.72%, while Consumer Durables down by 1.12%, Capital Goods down by 0.97%, Realty down by 0.90%, Energy down by 0.86% and Power down by 0.80% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were JSW Steel up by 2.95%, Tata Steel up by 2.38%, Indusind Bank up by 1.76%, Maruti Suzuki up by 1.26% and HCL Tech. up by 0.56%. On the flip side, Adani Ports & SEZ down by 3.17%, ITC down by 1.33%, Bharti Airtel down by 1.28%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.28% and Bajaj Finance down by 1.23% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, on a mission to simplify access to quality agricultural & horticulture seeds, Government e-Marketplace (GeM) has revamped & introduced 170 Seed categories on the portal. Created ahead of the upcoming cropping season, the newly populated categories feature nearly 8,000 seed varieties that can be procured by Central/State PSUs and other governing bodies for further dissemination across the country.

Created after consultation with stakeholders including state seed corporations and research bodies, seed categories on GeM portal offer a ready framework for seed procurement, incorporating the extant rules & regulations by Government of India and necessary parameters, easing the entire process for procuring authorities.

The roll out of these new categories is a part of GeM’s broader strategy to promote category-based procurement through the portal. With an emphasis on increasing efficiency, category-based procurement of seeds aims to reduce time consumed in tendering processes, stimulate transparency & accountability in government procurement, while facilitating increased participation of sellers across the country.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 23908.30, down by 87.05 points or 0.36% after trading in a range of 23842.75 and 24037.20. There were 20 stocks advancing against 30 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were JSW Steel up by 2.97%, Tata Steel up by 2.53%, Indusind Bank up by 1.80%, Bajaj Auto up by 1.75% and Hindalco up by 1.72%. On the flip side, Adani Ports & SEZ down by 3.18%, Trent down by 3.15%, HDFC Life Insurance down by 2.68%, Coal India down by 2.62% and Shriram Finance down by 2.13% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Hang Seng advanced 292.01 points or 1.4% to 20,859.53, Nikkei 225 surged 421.23 points or 1.09% to 38,474.90, Taiwan Weighted added 141.4 points or 0.61% to 23,106.79, Shanghai Composite strengthened 75.07 points or 2.22% to 3,385.28 and Straits Times rose 0.84 points or 0.02% to 3,572.88, while Jakarta Composite plunged 16.24 points or 0.22% to 7,463.26 and KOSPI dropped 12.09 points or 0.47% to 2,576.88.